Green code must for buildings in 8 states

The green building code, termed energy conservation building code (ECBC), is likely to be mandatory for commercial buildings coming up in eight fast growing states in the next two years.

“In the eight major states where commercial buildings are being built — Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh — our goal is to have the law on their books within two years,” said Ajay Mathur, Director General of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE).

BEE finalised the code two years ago and is currently voluntary. Each state will have to amend the legislation to make ECBC mandatory. “We are providing assistance and tools to the states for this,” Mathur added.

Though ECBC-compliant buildings would add 10-15 per cent to the overall cost of construction, it would be more than neutralised by the savings from lesser consumption of energy.

“We already have one green building. We are implementing six such projects without any legal compulsion. Though cost is high... it will result in value addition to the users,” said Vimal Shah, Managing Director of Ackruti City.

Making the code mandatory would require a lot of preparatory work in terms of monitoring and auditing mechanisms.

Delhi was the first to make mandatory for all new government buildings to be ECBC-compliant. “Haryana and Uttarakhand are close to doing it,” said Mathur.